Today was mostly devoted to getting from Riga to Tallinn, Estonia, with a few intermediate stops.
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| Latvian magazine selection in our hotel |
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| Latvia-Estonia border -- no stopping! |
Our route took us along the coast, with a stop in the Estonian resort town of Parnu.
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| Wooden buildings in Parnu |
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| Typical housing in Parnu |
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| On the beach. Not good swimming weather. |
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| In the center of Parnu |
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| The main pedestrian street |
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| The oldest building in Parnu--the foundation dates from 1250 |
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| For those of you wondering where to get Nepalese food in Estonia |
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| A much newer house, dating from 1740 |
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| I defy you to tell me what this says |
While I was having lunch at Restaurant Nikolai Lehtla, the sun came out, and I continued my walk around Parnu.
We then got back on the bus and headed for Tallinn.
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| On the road to Tallinn |
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| Another shot from the road |
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| A house in Tallinn |
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| Radisson Blu Hotel Olimpia in Tallinn |
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| My cramped, but otherwise nice room |
As soon as I unpacked, I headed for Tallinn Old Town, a walk of about 1/3 mile.
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| Central Tallinn |
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| Estonian Opera House and Ballet Theater |
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| Estonian Drama Theater |
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| Soprus Movie Theater |
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| For my viewers in the Detroit area |
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| Town Hall Square |
A few shots from various locations in Old Town
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| Holy Spirit Church |
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| Tallinn Town Hall |
As I was leaving Old Town, I encountered a guy playing blues guitar on the street.
He was fantastic, and I went up to him to ask if he could play "Hey Joe" (my favorite), and before I even got up to him to ask, he started playing it!
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| Flower vendors on the edge of Old Town |
Saturday, July 16: Tallinn
Today was the "official" walking tour of Talinn Old Town. We revisited several of the places I had walked by the previous evening. This was actually my second trip to Tallinn--in 1993, I took a ferry from Helsinki for a 3 hour visit. Some of the pictures below are paired with pictures I took in 1993.
Talinn Old Town consists of two sections--the Upper Town (where the rich people lived) and the Lower Town, where everyone else lived. We started in the Upper Town.
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| Panoramic view of the plaza in front of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral |
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| Toompea Castle and Pikk Hermann (the tower), dating from the 13th century |
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| The front of Toompea Castle |
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| Street in the Upper Town |
We walked to an overlook that had some nice views of the lower town.
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| More proof that I was there |
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| View of the Lower Town |
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| Another view of the Lower Town |
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| View of modern Tallinn from the Upper Town |
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| Now, that's a museum! |
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| Old and New Tallinn |
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| The same view from my 1993 trip |
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| Along the city wall in the Upper Town |
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| Patkuli Viewing Platform |
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| Another view of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral |
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| Similar view from 1993 |
After touring the Upper Town, we descended to the Lower Town.
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| Panoramic view of Town Hall Square |
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| Church of the Holy Spirit (in back) |
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| Similar view from 1993 |
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| Inside the Estonian History Museum |
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| View of the Church of the Holy Spirit from the History Museum |
Just off Town Hall Square was
Raeapteek, a pharmacy that has been in continuous business since 1422. It also houses a small museum.
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| In the Pharmacy Museum |
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| In the pharmacy part |
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| A fashion shot |
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| Another panorama of Town Hall Square |
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| A similar, non-panoramic view from 1993 |
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| St. Nicholas Church |
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| Freedom Square, just outside Old Town |
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| One of the old city towers |
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| As it looked in 1993 |
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| Several houses from the 16th century. The one now on the left is an archaelogical museum |
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| Another street in Old Town |
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| A similar street in 1993 |
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| An intersection in Old Town |
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| "The Three Sisters", built in the 15th century, and now a hotel |
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| The Three Sisters in 1993 (before it became a hotel) |
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| "Fat Margaret", a tower in the city wall dating from the 14th century |
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| Fat Margaret in 1993 |
Finally, I wandered back to the hotel.
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| A long wooden building across from the hotel |
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| View of modern Tallinn from my room |
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| A wooden church, across from the hotel |
After resting up, I walked back to Old Town for dinner. I stopped into a McDonalds, not to eat, but to see what was on the menu and what it cost.
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| A Big Mac with fries and a Coke is 5 Euros |
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| Viru Gate, on the east side of Old Town, dating from the 14th century |
I didn't intend to eat at an Indian restaurant, but I passed by one that had moose korma on the menu, and I couldn't resist.
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| My last dinner in Tallinn, including moose korma |
After dinner I wandered over to St. Catherines Passage, the site of an old convent. There were several tombstones from the 14th century on display in the passage.
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| A 14th century tombstone |
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| More tombstones |
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| Part of the convent |
From there, a final walk back to Town Hall Square, and back to the hotel.
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| A last visit to Town Hall Square |
And thus ended a delightful stay in Tallinn, the Baltics and Belarus/Moldova.
